Axiopsis caespitosa (Thalassinidea, Axiidae), a new species from the Pacific coast of Colombia

Abstract

Axiopsis (Axiopsis) caespitosa is a new species of the Axiidae from the Pacific coast of Colombia, South America. It has a carina on the carapace behind the cervical groove but is typically axiopsid. One specimen, the female holotype, was trawled in 90 m and is deposited in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The species appears to be the Pacific analogue of the Atlantic species A. (A.) hirsutimana. Differences are fewer spines on the median carina, on the rostrum, and at the transverse suture of the outer uropod, as well as two groups of three spines just behind the cervical groove. Several species of axiid named Calastacus are referred to the genus Axiopsis in view of a strict definition of the former.